The eighth grader, who lost five fingers to frostbite in an earlier climb, said he was now aiming for something a little less extraordinary: finishing school.

"I have lived my dream and I don't have any plans to climb," the 16-year-old said. "Now I am going to concentrate on studies."

Tsheri was greeted by students from his Sidartha Vanasthali school at the Katmandu airport. Tsheri waved at them from the back of an open truck.

Tsheri and a Sherpa guide were among more than 100 people who reached the summit of the 29,035-foot mountain last week, taking advantage of a break in high winds and heavy snow that for days had forced climbers to delay.

"We were beginning to think that the weather was not going to clear up and we would not be able to climb at all this season," he said.

"But luck favored us and the skies were suddenly clear just enough for us to make the climb," he said.

Tsheri said he reached the summit on May 23 and not May 22 as announced by his sponsors. Since they did not have their own satellite phone and had to use a set belonging to another expedition, they could not relay the news clearly.

"It was like a big party on the summit. There were at least 30 climbers on the summit that day," he said.